Traveling Adventures of El Hainelos

October-November 2024 I went for a trip to Vietnamese 🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City and 🇹🇭 Thai Bangkok. I had a flight with layover in 🇦🇪 Sharjah and finally landing in 🇹🇭 Bangkok. I took my baggage, went through control and. . . went back to fly to 🇻🇳 Vietnam. My Flight to HCMC was quite smooth, I have checked in a hotel, which was kinda weird. To access it I had to first enter a tea house, then further were stairs for the apartment-hotel. The owner, looked younger than me, which also shocked me.

The traffic in 🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City is as scary as they show on videos. Cars and motorcycles do not stop on zebra crossing, to pass you have to get your hand up and walk confidently and slowly to the other side, motorcycles will avoid you, you should not step when cars are going though.

Day 1 – I went around my hotel in the city centre, seeing People’s Committee Saigon Opera House, Ho Chi Minh Statue (1st Vietnamese President), Went to Saigon River, saw statue of a local hero, and saw an amazing performance of a guy playing on plates on a food market event.

Day 2 and 3 – I went to Tao Dan park, when I was interviewed by a child about environment for his school project. I met with my friend there and we went by a motorcycle tour, including the Pink Church, Saigon Post Office and finally the Independence Palace. Next day was raining, so I did not go out until evening.

Day 4-5 I went to edges of the city, visited War Remnants Museum (Of the horrifying past of Vietnam War), Vietnamese National Buddhist Temple, and other less known churches and temples. I have walked a lot, and I felt very safe, contrary to the internet reputation of Vietnam. The one thing you need to look for is that the motorcycles sometimes go on a sidewalk to omit lights.

My first touch with 🇻🇳 Vietnam gave me a lot of new thoughts about the country, I definitely want to visit again and see other places. The Vietnamese food was not as good as I was imagining though. After that I flew to 🇹🇭 Bangkok to see Thailand for the first time.